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(erielack) Industry along lower Pascack Valley Line (NJ&NY RR)

****Among other things, Bendix (Eclipse-Pioneer Division) at Teterboro had a 
large magnesium foundry -- one of the few in the US.  And it did have rail 
service.  At one time we traced it out and the siding came off of the Erie 
with a facing point switch for southbound moves.  Then, at a switchback on 
the Bendix property, it served two (?) sidings, at least one of which was 
apparently for the foundry.  I think perhaps one of the sidings actually 
entered the main building ('Plant 1') probably WW2 era, but that is pure 
conjecture. ****

**** When I went to work for Bendix in 1963, I think it was used once a 
year, at Thanksgiving time, for a refrigerator car of frozen turkeys for the 
employees.  That ended a year or two later.  I don't know when the tracks to 
the siding were actually removed, but when I retired a couple of years ago 
there were only remnants of siding tracks in the pavement along side of the 
old foundry building.  John C. Strole ****

John,

Thanks for that info.  I didn't know about the foundry, although I knew that 
my father worked with magnesium.  I recall him once bringing home some 
magnesium chips from a lathe or miller, to show my brother and me how it 
burned.  Didn't know that those frozen turkeys he brought home for 
Thanksgiving rode the EL -- perhaps that helps to explain why they tasted so 
good back then!

I found something about the Bendix foundry in a New Jersey court case, as 
follows:

Between 1937 and 1939, the Bendix Corporation ("Bendix") acquired land in 
Teterboro, New Jersey. At various times since 1939, Bendix used the land for 
a sewage treatment facility, a thorium/magnesium alloy foundry, a chemical 
treatment facility to dispose of the radioactive waste magnesium, and 
storage for various oils and solvents. In 1977 Bendix subdivided its land 
and sold one parcel to Sumitomo. The current litigation concerns the 
environmental cleanup of this parcel of land ("Site").

By 1988, government investigation had revealed radioactive contamination on 
the Site. In 1984 Bendix had merged into Allied, and Allied, as successor, 
took the lead in formulating a remediation plan for all the land formerly 
owned by Bendix. Meanwhile, Sumitomo moved its operations out-of-state in 
1988 and attempted to sell the Site.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=3rd&navby=case&no=961289p

While we're talking about pollution along the NJ&NY (as the "Pascack Valley 
Line" always be to me, with Horace Banta as its Trustee!!), here's some info 
on UOP and the UOP site in East Rutherford from a Google search:

Universal Oil Products (Chemical Division) once manufactured specialty 
chemicals on an 85-acre site in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. 
The company razed the plant in 1980. Various chemicals were manufactured 
there from 1932 until 1979, when the company ceased operations. The company 
also recovered solvents and waste chemicals at the site from 1960 through 
1979. Approximately 4.5 million gallons of waste solvents and solid chemical 
wastes were dumped into two unlined lagoons during this time, which resulted 
in contamination of the soil, surface water, and groundwater. Ground water 
provides process cooling water to industry and drinking water to residents 
of Wallington Township.

On February 12, 1959, Universal Oil went public. In 1960 the company 
acquired a controlling interest in the Trubek Laboratories in East 
Rutherford, New Jersey. Trubek, a developer and manufacturer of organic 
chemical specialties, opened new fields for Universal Oil, including soap, 
perfume, pharmaceutical, electroplating, plasticizing, and metal-finishing 
industries. UOP was later owned by the venerable Allied Signal Company, who 
went on to merge with Honeywell under the Honeywell name.

FINALLY, a UOP stock certificate is currently for sale on Ebay.  The artwork 
on the certificate includes the front end of an F-unit!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Stock-w-Diesel-Loco-Oil-Wells-Freighter-
More_W0QQitemZ8316575474QQcategoryZ3450QqcmdZViewItem

Jim Gerofsky



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